make-shift's probably a better way to describe it
by Streaks of Hail
Summary: "Get up," comes May's announcement over the intercom in the dead of night, "Meeting in the briefing room." (or, the one where the team celebrates a very make-shift Christmas)
1. Ribbon Wars

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **So, just a fun, merry little fic for Christmas's sake. It kind of just flew from my fingers as I sat there enjoying a summer Christmas with a caramel parfait. This was originally intended to be a one-shot, but it just grew longer and longer, so it's multiple chapters instead. This fic isn't really supposed to have any proper ships in it, but I've slipped some stuff in-between the lines if you prefer to see it as that. Also, any guesses as to what's going to happen in the next chapter?

**MAKE-SHIFT'S PROBABLY A BETTER WAY TO DESCRIBE IT**

"Get up," comes May's announcement over the intercom in the dead of night, "Meeting in the briefing room."

Everyone hastens to obey, throwing back their covers and stumbling out of bed to stagger down the halls to the briefing room. Everyone's actions are more or less the same, but the manner in which they do it is drastically different.

Bobbi jumps out of bed, alert and ready in her ratty Star Wars t-shirt and shorts. Lance grumbles and complains as he drags his boxer-clad self down the hall. Skye takes a few moments to wake up, before swiftly walking to her destination, dressed in an over-sized t-shirt that is dreary and black and close to falling apart. Mack makes his way down curiously in his tank top and flannel pants (he's the only one sensible enough to grab a jacket on the way, as well), and Trip is wearing pretty much the same thing, although his shirt has a smiley face on it and he's wearing flannel shorts instead.

Coulson, surprisingly, is not wearing a suit, although his pyjamas are rather alarmingly decked out in Captain America pictures and references (hand-made, he'll tell anyone that cares to listen). Fitz wears a shirt patterned with monkeys (a gift from his mother sent in the mail a couple of years ago; it reminds him of cookies and comfort and home, none of which he has very much of right now) and flannel pants. Simmons turns up fully dressed with shadows under her eyes, and one has to wonder whether she's even left the lab for sleep to begin with._  
><em>

They're all quite different, but one thing that they're all sure of - there's an emergency. Why else would May so urgently disturb them from their sleep, right?

When they arrive, however, May is only waiting calmly for them, dressed in layers upon layers of warm clothing. In fact, she would almost look comical in her knitted gloves and knobbly hat if the rest of the team weren't still in their pyjamas.

"What's wrong?" Skye asks sombrely, as all determined gazes are switched to May.

"Nothing," May answers simply, much to the team's bewilderment.

"Nothing?" Hunter exclaims, the incredulous heavy in his voice. "Then why the bloody hell did you wake us up at bloody-" he pauses to check the digital clock perched on the desk, "-1AM in the morning?"

For a moment, she says nothing, her gaze raking across them all, in their rather strange sleepwear, and then the slightest of smirk's crosses her features. Then it flits away at Simmons's fully dressed attire, and she zips up her jacket. "Get dressed." She eyes their pyjamas. "Wear something warm. Meet at the BUS - wheels up in ten."

"Wait, what's going on?" Hunter yells, but she's already gone. Immediately, questioning looks are thrown at Coulson, who only shrugs and smiles.

"I have nothing to do with this."

"Are you wearing Captain America gear?" Skye interrupts, staring at his pyjamas in poorly hidden skeptical-ness.

"Hand-made," Coulson smirks proudly.

"Nice, sir," Trip grins in response, his eyes glinting in a way that explains everything.

"Excuse me," Lance interrupts loudly, as he throws his hands up in an aggravated fashion and gives the whole team an incredulous look. "Are we just going to totally ignore the fact that Agent May just told us to follow her to god knows where? In the middle of the night? With a whole team of trained field agents?"

"Actually," Simmons pipes up helpfully (much to everyone's surprise), "not all of us are trained. Fitz and I failed our field tests."

"Great. Just lovely," Hunter grumbles.

Trip just steps forward to slap him on the back and smile. "You don't disobey Agent May, Hunter. Remember what happened last time?"

The whole team knows about the time May shot Hunter as revenge for betraying them. Hunter just scowls as the team begins to file out and get dressed as May told them.

"Nice boxers, Lance," Bobbi snarks smugly as she leaves. Soon, he's left all by himself in the dead silence - but not before he hears conversations like,

_"I can't believe you actually have Captain America pyjamas. Do you have it on your underwear too?"_

_"That's classified information, Skye."_

and,

_"Liking the monkeys, Fitz."_

_"Mum... uh.. gave them to.. to me."_

_"Cool. You miss her?"_

_"Yeah."_

or,

_"Jemma, did you get any sleep?"_

_"Oh, it's not so bad, really, it's just that I found this discovery that could really-"_

_"It's the nightmares, isn't it? You need to get something for that."_

_"Don't tell anyone. Please. I can handle it."_

And then finally, soft snickers from behind him.

"May?" he gapes in obvious surprise - has she been there the whole time?

"You all look ridiculous," she says, before leaving again (for real this time; he double checks).

...

As soon as the last person steps onto the BUS, the doors clamp shut immediately and they're taking off into the unknown.

"Does anyone actually know where we're going?" Lance questions once they're safely up in the air and free to move around as they wish.

From her comfortable spot leaning on the table, Skye gives a non-committal shrug. "Does it really matter?"

"SHIELD agents don't work like a mercenary does, Hunter," Bobbi says, sliding into conversation easily as she clinks her shot glass with Mack's. "It's called trust. We have each other's backs, it's not '_do it for the money_' like you guys seem to dedicate everything to."

"Yeah, yeah, you do it all for the greater good, blah, blah," Hunter sighed in defeat, flopping himself down onto a couch and kicking his feet up lazily. "I still don't know that this is the best idea. Besides, couldn't May have woken us up at a more convenient time? I'm dead tired."

"Join the club," Mack snorts, and there's nods of agreement all around.

"I am kind of curious, though," Trip offers. "I mean, if Coulson doesn't even know what this is about.." The Director's currently up in the cockpit along with May, no doubt getting all the information while they're stuck speculating in the dark. It's not even remotely fair.

"Maybe it's a team training exercise?" Simmons suggests, looking remarkably like a bundled up kitten in her knobbly hat and fluffy jacket. She hovers next to Trip, the only one to keep her outdoor gear on after everyone else shed theirs once on the BUS.

"At 1AM?"

There's speculation all around with input from everyone except Fitz, who watches quietly, his arms crossed tightly and his eyes flickering. Then, a figure stops them. Coulson smiles at them, looking thankfully normal in his suit (although none of them will be able to scrub the vision of his Captain America pajamas from their memories).

"May says it'll be a while before we land, so make yourselves comfortable."

"Sir, what's going on?" Bobbi questions, but Coulson merely glances around as if only just taking in their shadowed eyes and baffled expressions.

"Get some sleep, we'll warn you when we land," he says gently, before departing.

"_Well, that was a waste of conversation_," Lance tells Mack and Bobbi.

"_Get some sleep_," Skye says quietly to Jemma. "_Tell me if the nightmares come back_."

"_You think they're hiding something from us_?" Trip asks Fitz.

...

Quite a while later, when everyone is finally awake and properly dressed, another announcement comes from the plane intercom and they're called up to the main room again.

"This better be a briefing on what we're doing," Lance grumbles on his way up the winding stairs.

"I trust them," Fitz says suddenly, a determined look on his features. There's nods from all around, and their confidence is higher than ever when they finally stride into the meeting room.

To their surprise, there's several cardboard boxes surrounding Coulson and May, and May's just setting one particularly fill to the bursting box down as they're shuffling in with bewildered expressions.

"What's going on?" Skye asks with a curious frown, eyeing the boxes carefully.

May and Coulson exchange looks, and there's the tiniest of nods from May before the Director speaks. "Do any of you know what day it is?"

"Tuesday, sir?" Trip questions, looking thoroughly confused (and he's not the only one, everyone else looks either baffled or curious. Or both, in some people's case).

"Wednesday, actually," Simmons corrects with a tiny smile.

"We got woken up at one in the morning, remember?" Bobbi adds with a grin.

To their surprise, May only gains a slightly exasperated look, although her lips might be curved in her funny rendition of a smile. "He means the date."

"It'll be the.. 24th. Of December," Mack works out quickly. It takes a moment for the team to sink it all in (after all, they've hardly had much time to examine a calender).

"Christmas Eve," Skye breathes quietly.

"Is this what all this fuss is about?" Bobbi asks knowingly. "Because when I joined SHIELD, I was fully aware that I might not be able to return to my family. It's too dangerous to visit them, Coulson," she says firmly, "they'll be put in danger. Just because it's Christmas, doesn't mean we can drop everything and-"

"We're not visiting them," Coulson interrupts before she can go even further. "Well, not exactly."

"Not exactly?" Lance frowns, crossing his arms and glaring at the cardboard boxes like they might reveal the answer to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I understand that you all have families," Coulson starts off smoothly, his eyes gliding right past Skye, who shifts to stare determinedly at her feet, "that will most likely be missing you around this time of year. And while Bobbi is right - we can't endanger them by visiting, calling or even messaging them. Fortunately, I have some connections, and.. well, we've got the next best thing." At this, May pulls out a stack of envelopes and papers. "We're going old-fashioned. I've got a friend down south who used to be a SHIELD agent. Now, he's an undercover postman."

"Fascinating job," Lance mutters sarcastically under his breath, but when glares tell him to be quiet, he falls silent immediately.

"Hydra could trace our phone calls or normal letters way too easily, so we're flying down to visit him. He'll know where to go and he can deliver them safely for you. It's a very big breach of the no-contact rule, but as Director.." he paused for a grin, "I think I'm entitled to lift that for now."

"You're serious?" Trip laughs, staring at the envelopes in May's outstretched hand.

"Dead serious," Coulson nods, but he's smiling as the team begins to laugh and smile as it all sinks in. "Write whatever you want in your letters - no one will read them unless you give it to them. You've got two hours before we touch down, and there's only one letter. Make it count."

Soon, each team member is taking a card and they all look so happy that even May cracks a smile. Soon enough, when it's just Simmons and Skye left in the room, Jemma grips onto her envelope tightly and gives him the happiest look he's seen on her for a while now.

"Thank you, sir," she says. "I.. this means a lot."

"Wasn't my idea," he returns with a gentle smile. "May's behind it all."

Jemma gives May a sincere smile and a tentative hug, and then she's gone, scampering off to write her letter, no doubt.

May looks kind of surprised (but maybe pleased), but Coulson nods to her. "Put the plane on autopilot. Go write your own letter."

She shakes her head. "I saw my mother already, remember?"

"That was when you were in the middle of a mission," he responds. "A lot has changed. She'll still want to know what's going on." When she doesn't move, he adds more firmly, "Melinda."

Then she leaves reluctantly, and it's just Coulson and Skye.

Skye twitches and scuffs her feet uncomfortably on the floor, looking for all the world like she's a sulking little kid missing out on something big.

"That's really nice, what you're doing for them," she says honestly.

"It's not just for them." He blinks at her, before walking up and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's for you too, Skye."

"I don't have a family," she shrugs nonchalantly, but she's blinking tears from her eyes and they both know it.

"You have us."

There's silence for a long moment, before Coulson waves at the various boxes littered around the floor. "Spread some Christmas cheer - tell the others they can help when they're finished. There's hot chocolate in the kitchen."

The boxes are filled with Christmas decorations.

...

"I don't understand," Trip frowns as he holds up a deep red bauble with snowy patterns on it. "Why do we have baubles when we don't even have a Christmas tree?"

Everyone's gathered in the main room to help decorate the BUS, and every team member is practically glowing after writing letters to their families. In the boxes is everything Christmas-related possible. From gaudy tinsels to pretty fairy lights to cheery Christmas CD's - even a whole swamp of ugly sweaters (which Skye and Trip immediately force the team to wear, insisting that it's all for the spirit of Christmas).

"It's probably nothing," Bobbi reasons as she leans up to string shiny golden tinsel around the corners of the roof. "Maybe it came with the packaging?"

"That's kinda sad." Trip drops the bauble back into the box and plucks up a sheet of glittery white paper and scissors instead. "Christmas is kind of less fun without the tree. When I was a kid, decorating the tree was the best part about the holiday." Peering at the paper as he draws another crafting kit out of the box, he calls over to Simmons, "hey Jemma. You're crafty, right? Can you come give me a hand?"

Simmons makes her way over, only to pause and give a light shrug of her shoulders. "Well.. I wouldn't say I'm good at art.."

"C'mon, Jemma! I saw those drawings back in your room on the BUS," Skye scoffs good-naturedly, "You're amazing! You could almost be an artist."

"Yes... but they weren't mine," Simmons admits, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "They were Fitz's."

Immediately, every person twists to stare at Fitz, who now looks like a whole new degree of uncomfortable.

"You draw, Fitz?"

"Uh.. not really," Fitz mumbles, determinedly staring down at his feet. "Just doodling, and.. uh.. yeah."

"Just doodles?" Skye exclaims with wide eyes, totally abandoning the Christmas decorations in favour of something new. "Fitz, those were amazing! Like.. seriously good! Simmons, they're amazing, right?" she questions quickly, as if she needs proof that she's not gone crazy.

"Yeah," Simmons nods, a gentle (maybe proud?) smile on her lips. "I kept them in my room for a reason."

"Well, you can be our drawer then," Trip announces easily, sliding the markers and the paper across to him with a reassuring grin. "Someone's gotta save us from my terrible lumpy snowmen pictures."

"My hand.. I can't.." Fitz protests, shaking his head and almost retreating from the paper as though it might bite.

"Sure you can, Fitz," Simmons says perhaps too kindly, and Fitz doesn't say anything.

Eventually, Bobbi smiles and nods to him. "You don't have to do anything you don't want too. But - and I don't know anything about you, so ignore me if you want - I saw you disarm a bomb just the other day. I've heard stories about you, Fitz. You were pretty cool. You still are pretty cool. So I say if you can disarm a bomb, you can draw some shapes." Plucking up a marker and holding it out to him with a warm look, she continues, "So, what do you say?"

"Please, Fitz?" Skye pleads with a childish whine that no one's heard in a long time. "For Christmas?"

"Go on, man," Mack nods encouragingly.

Then Fitz takes the pen and begins to sketch, and Trip and Lance argue determinedly over which Christmas carol to play, and Mack and Bobbi roll their eyes and chat to Fitz as they string up decorations, and Skye steals a deep red ribbon from the box and ties a bow in Simmons's hair.

"Pretty," she laughs, as Jemma returns the gesture by sticking a vivid purple bow in her hair. Soon enough they were giggling and pressing random bows to each other, the stress from the previous events releasing itself in laughter and silliness.

"Hey, I want a bow too," Trip pouts jokingly, and soon enough both Jemma and Skye are leaning on their tiptoes to place a bow on his ears.

"Looks good on you," Bobbi remarks, and soon enough the whole team have given up on decorating and are dancing to Christmas carols as they plaster each other with ribbons.

They stop briefly, panting from breathless laughing and horribly sung lyrics trailing off, they all burst into laughter again as Bobbi remarks dryly, "What have we become?"

Soon enough it's men onto woman (although Trip occasionally betrays the men, claiming that he's a ladies man, while Lance just calls him a traitor), and the room has become a total mess.

When they finally take a break to catch their breaths and someone realises, "_Holy shit, we're in deep trouble if we don't clean this up_," there's a moment of silence where everybody just stares at Lance and Jemma.

"What?" Hunter demands heatedly, whipping his gaze down himself. "What's wrong? What have I done?"

Then, Bobbi smirks and points above him and Jemma as the rest of the team bursts out laughing. "Mistletoe," she says smugly.

Immediately, his eyes widen and he takes a hasty step back from Jemma, his hands held out in front of him in a defensive posture. "Look, Simmons, I don't think of you that way, honest, and you're like a sister-

"Oh my god, this is hilarious," Skye and Trip both laugh uncontrollably, and even Fitz is grinning along.

"This is going in the records," Bobbi smirks, whipping out her phone.

"I would have thought the ex-wife would be more sympathetic," he snaps, glaring dangerously at Bobbi.

"_She-devil_ ex-wife," she corrects. "Sorry Jemma."

"You're sorry for _her_?" Lance shrieks, but before anything else can happen Jemma presses a sisterly kiss to his cheek and steps back with a roll of her eyes.

"All done."

Trip and Skye complain that that's cheating, but Fitz looks faintly glad, Mack looks amused and Bobbi just keeps waving her phone tauntingly, so Jemma and Lance decide it safe to quickly leap away from the mistletoe and Lance claims out loud to rid the world of evils such as mistletoe.

"What's going on?" Suddenly, Coulson and and May are standing there, looking absurdly.. out of place amongst the glitter and ribbons.

"Lance, Jemma and mistletoe," Bobbi says easily, effectively throwing Lance under the bus. Coulson looks both bewildered and disgruntled at the same time, but May holds an expression that might be close to amusement.

"No, sir, that's not- I mean.." Lance starts up hastily, eager to defend himself. "She's like a sister, or-"

"Relax, Hunter," Trip snickers suddenly. "We all know what you've really been doing with Bobbi. Koenig told me about the car."

"How you know about that, I don't really want to know," Coulson interrupts quickly, but he looks faintly relieved all the same. "I just want to know why the BUS looks like a children's birthday party."

Immediately, there's awkward looks and shuffling of feet, until at last Skye hops forward to press a pretty pink bow to Coulson's head.

"Merry Christmas, Coulson," she says sweetly.


	2. Christmas Carols

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **Well, here's the final chapter. I have to admit, I didn't put altogether that much effort into this fic, but hopefully it's enjoyable all the same. All I really wanted to do was get something fun and Christmas-y out there, really. As this is the last thing I'll be posting before Christmas, I wish you happy holidays and a very merry Christmas! If you don't celebrate it, then I hope you have a good break all the same.

**CHRISTMAS CAROLS**

"Looks like we're here," Mack remarks as the plane suddenly stops moving and pulls to a neat stop (May's flying really isn't easy to criticise).

"The question is, where are we?" Trip muses, hopping out of his seat to peer out the window in hopes of some clue. All that can be seen is a snowy field, with winding roads and clumps of forest nearby. There's no signs or billboards, nothing. Although, there is a rather quaint looking cottage nestled next to the road not far along down the field.

"Looks like Providence," Skye murmurs solemnly. Only Trip, Fitz and Simmons nod in turn.

"But it's not," Fitz says surprisingly firmly.

"No," Simmons nods her agreement, casting a hopeful glance his way, "but where ever it is, it'll be chilly. It's a good thing May told us to dress warmly."

They're just pulling on their jackets, gloves and knobbly hats when May, Coulson and the Koenigs surface to greet them.

"Where are we, sir?" Bobbi asks as she zips her jacket up.

"Classified information," Coulson replies, smiling. They're already dressed warmly, and the situation is bizarrely just like their trip to Providence. "But we're dropping off our letters here. Do you all have them?"

"Right here," Trip announces, tugging them carefully from his pocket and handing them over to May.

"We'll look after the BUS while you're gone," one of the Koenigs says cheerfully.

"Thanks, Billy."

"Actually, he's Billy," Koenig corrects with a barely noticeable drop of irritation, pointing to his twin brother.

"Just how many of them are there?" Lance asks incredulously as soon as they're disembarking the plane.

"That's what I was wondering," Trip mutters lowly.

...

Coulson's 'friend' turns out to be a pretty nice man, with a rather fit figure (after all, he_ had_ worked for SHIELD at one point), untidy black hair and glasses. He has an even nicer family, with a pretty red-headed wife, as well as two children - one tiny little girl with her mother's hair and freckles, and an older boy with his father's unruly hair and his mother's blue eyes.

When the man spots them he grins wildly and embraces Coulson in a tight hug. "Phil! I hear you're Director now!"

"How did you hear about that?" Coulson frowns, as if something has gone terribly wrong.

The man only rolls his eyes and lays a friendly hand on Coulson's shoulder. "It's probably best not to ask those questions. It's my job speciality, remember? You don't get around without picking up a few things here and there. It's especially impossible to miss such big news as this." Lowering his voice quickly, he adds with obvious curiosity, "Is it true, Phil? About Fury being gone, that is?"

"You're not a SHIELD agent any more," May reminds, stepping into the conversation neatly. "We can't really tell you these things." Instead of being crestfallen, the man only smiles wider and laughs.

"Melinda May! I haven't seen you in years," he remarks easily. "You look exactly the same. Haven't aged a day, you have."

"Roger, you're getting too ahead of yourself," Coulson says, his voice containing a strange mix between fond exasperation and amusement. "Remember what we came here for? This is my team - Trip, Skye, Simmons, Bobbi, Lance, Mack and Fitz. You already know May." At this, he turns to face his team with a smile. "Roger Dooley, ex-agent of SHIELD. He used to work in the communications division before he quit a couple of years ago to look after his family. Now, he uses his extensive connections to help us out whenever necessary. He's the lucky man who will be delivering your letters."

"Now that you've given them my life story," Roger says after the team have all greeted him respectfully, "Let's head inside, shall we? It's bloody freezing out here, and I know Marlene's got some hot chocolate stored back there somewhere."

They file inside obediently at Roger's insistent ushering, where they're soon led to a cosy, warm living room, which has a festive fireplace burning to keep the place warm.

"My wife, Marlene," Roger introduces cheerfully as they all take a seat around the place. "And this is Katie and Lucas, my kids." The little girl waves shyly, but the boy grins and and sticks his tongue out at them playfully.

"Come on, Kat," Lucas announces to his little sister. "Let's leave the grown-ups to talk."

...

"It's been fun," Coulson concedes a few hours later. "But I'm afraid we'll be going shortly."

"Ah.. of course," Roger smiles and claps his hands together. "I'll take good care of your letters, and I guarantee that they'll be delivered safely."

"Thank you," Coulson nods.

"Oh! And I almost forgot - you'll be needing these, won't you?" And much to the teams bewilderment, he scuffles around until he finds a set of keys. Then, he promptly throws them to May, who catches them smoothly.

"This is just like a wild goose chase," Trip whispers as they say their goodbyes and depart the house with a packet of cookies given to them by shy little Katie.

"They _were_ kind of weird," Skye declares loudly to the others (which is excluding May and Coulson, as they're talking about something up ahead).

Simmons frowns her disagreement and shakes her head instead. "I thought they were quite sweet, especially those kids."

"Just because you can see the good in everyone doesn't mean we all can," Lance smirks, attempting to sling his arm around Bobbi's shoulders and rapidly retreating when she gives him a glare sharp enough to slice through stone.

"No, but really, where are we going?" Trip says again, more loudly this time.

"We're not heading back to the BUS," Mack points out, and he's right; the BUS is now far behind them, it's dark colour a bright contrast in comparison to the pure white snow. Now they're heading around the back of the cottage to the snow-covered dirt road, following May and Coulson without a clue in the world as to where they're going.

"There's a van," Fitz declares suddenly, pointing up ahead to a dark blue van nestled in the snow, with the words '_Courier_' stamped in bold orange across the side. A trailer hangs off the back, looking like it's about to be buried in snow.

"Oh, great," Lance groans upon sighting the vehicle, lifting his gloved hand up to shield his nose from the cold. "I hate road trips."

"Maybe we're delivering stuff?" Simmons suggests innocently as they advance closer and closer. Up ahead, May unlocks it and gets in the drivers seat, with Coulson calling shotgun.

"Oh, great," Trip grins, far more genuinely than Lance had been a couple of seconds ago. "I've always wanted to be Santa."

...

The van is kind of squishy - especially since there are so many people for it to carry, so everyone ends up squeezed next to someone else. As Lance had put it so eloquently only moments before - this way they can tell whether or not someone needs a little bit more deodorant. Not a pleasant thought in the slightest, really.

The whole drive there, Lance, Skye and Trip decide to make it their business to ask where in the world they're going (although there's a few more swearwords than that, but that's besides the point), and eventually they resort to childishly chorusing, "_Are we there yet?_" until Coulson finally snaps and they sit back with jokingly pouty faces likes they've been scolded by their parents. Meanwhile, Simmons takes up peering out the window and chatting animatedly to Bobbi about things like 'oh, look, did you see that bird?' and eventually moving on to, 'I had no idea you had a PhD in biology!'. At the same time Mack and Fitz are talking at the back, half-watching Skye, Lance and Trip with amusement and half arguing about their latest project with enthusiasm.

"When," Coulson sighs when the other three pause in their bugging to bicker amongst themselves, "did we stop being a team of trained SHIELD agents and start being a bunch of children?"

"Since you introduced the idea of Christmas," May smirks, twisting the wheel as they bump along the dirt road.

"That was your idea."

"You don't see it bothering me."

...

Finally, they draw to a stop and Skye is immediately alert, shoving Trip playfully as they fight for the window view. "Are we here?"

"I am so glad that I can say yes," Coulson intones, but he's grinning all the same as everybody jumps out of the car to get a better look than the ones they had gotten from the mist-covered windows.

Immediately, they all fall silent. But it isn't one of awe, or surprise or even disappointment. Just one of complete and utter bewilderment.

"Director.." Lance begins slowly as he spins around to get a good grasp of his environment. "You_ do_ realise that this is just a forest, right?"

"Yes," Coulson answers simply, like he's done the most normal thing in the world. He and May wait patiently beside the van to see who will clue into it first with knowing looks.

"And.." Skye starts almost hesitantly, confusion etched plainly across her features, "and there's nothing unusual here?"

"Nothing unusual," Coulson confirms with a knowing smile to himself. Fortunately, it's hidden behind his thick winter jacket. "Just a normal pine forest."

Of course, Simmons clues into it first, her face lighting up hesitantly. "Sir.. did you say pine forest?"

At that, Coulson lets the cat out of the bag and smiles widely at his team. "Try and find one that actually fits on the BUS, okay?"

"I knew there was a reason for the Christmas baubles," Trip crows triumphantly. He's immediately told to shut up and they soon they're all gone, disappeared off into the woods.

May raises an eyebrow and turns to him with a blank look. "What are we going to do? Supervise?"

"They're big kids now," Coulson shakes his head, instead pulling a packet out of his pocket. "Still think you're better than me at cards?"

"Do you want me to remind you of the last time we played?"

...

Eventually, they're driving home with possibly the biggest Christmas tree in the whole forest. Coulson had tried to convince them to opt for a slightly more sensible one, but everyone was adamant, and eventually May had just rolled her eyes and said, "Just let them have the tree, Phil."

Now, they're tottering down the road in a squishy van, with the tree rolling around dangerously in the trailer. For a group of trained agents, it's really quite surprising that no one can handle tying up a simple tree.

The trip back to the BUS is fairly uneventful (although they still act like a bus full of children rather than the mature adults they're supposed to be), but the real problem is when the pull up just in front of the plane and pile out of the van like an excited gaggle of school kids.

"How," Bobbi asks doubtfully when they're all shivering in the cold and staring at the snow-frosted Christmas tree, "are we supposed to get that inside?"

"We'll carry it, right?" Mack says easily, moving forward to unstrap the Christmas tree and frowning suddenly. "Hey, who tied this? These knots are horrible."

"Hey!" Lance and Trip both call defensively, and Skye rolls her eyes.

"It's easy for you to say, Mack. Not all of us are as strong as you," she states, and the considerably smaller members of the team nod.

"There's enough of us to take the weight," Bobbi muses after staring at the tree for a moment. "Just as long as none of us stumble and trip, no one should get crushed."

"May, Coulson, you helping?" Skye asks curiously, as they're still talking by the van.

"Your tree, your problem," May smirks, and then she's disappearing off into the BUS. "Wheels up in ten."

"You know, I'm starting to like her less and less," Hunter grumbles more to himself than anyone else, rubbing his fingers together tightly to try and take away some of the cold.

"Okay, all hands on deck. This tree's not gonna move itself."

...

_"Stop complaining, Hunter!"_

_"Fitz, watch out!"_

_"Wait, no, I'm here - ow!"_

...

A considerable amount of time later, they're all sitting around a strangely desolate Christmas tree with mugs of hot chocolate in their hands and the cold beginning to frost away.

"It looks weird, you know," Trip remarks, kicking out his feet to stretch out on the couch. "The tree, I mean. Without it's decorations and everything."

"Then we should decorate it," Skye announces with far too much excitement, her eyes gleaming - and not just from the cold. "Fitz, are those the decorations beside you?"

The man in question twists awkwardly to peer into the box (almost spilling his hot chocolate; the cold made his hand shakier than ever). "Um.. yeah. Here." He toes the box into the middle of the group, but not before Simmons catches the corner of it and the box (along with all it's contents) topples over, leaving decorations and glitter all over the floor.

"Oh, no," Simmons gasps, looking genuinely distressed. "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, Simmons," Trip laughs as he hooks a piece of tinsel off his foot. "It's not like we haven't already made a mess in this place."

"Coulson's probably gonna kill us for damaging his plane," Mack remarks off-handedly as he observes the mess that is the main room of the BUS.

"It's been through worse," Fitz says, and Skye nods in agreement, waving the mess off easily.

"You should have seen Fury rave about it. Besides, who cares about the mess? We've got a tree to decorate!"

And that settles that particular conversation.

...

Approximately forty minutes later, the tree is heavily (_heavily_) decorated with glitter, tinsel, fairy lights - anything anyone can lay their hands on. It's a mess, but as Skye so eloquently points out, it's a mess made with love.

"Is that a cookie packet on the tree?" Simmons frowns in confusion, parting some of the branches to take a closer look.

"Remember those cookies the Dooley's gave us?" Skye asks with a cheerful grin, coming to stand beside Simmons. "Well, I thought it would be cool to put the packet on the tree, so we.. I dunno, remember where we got this all from?"

"That's sweet, Skye," Simmons smiles warmly. "But did you really eat all those biscuits?"

"Well.. not all of them," Skye admits. "They're in the kitchen, I think."

There's silence for a minute as _White Christmas_ floats from the laptop speakers behind the team and they string up various decorations to the already overdone main room.

"So this was all May's doing?" Mack asks, and he seems rather surprised at this particular snippet of information.

"That's what Coulson said," Bobbi nods informatively, giving a slight shrug and ignoring Hunter's scowl as she plasters a bow in his hair with a snort..

"Kinda strange," he remarks off-handedly. "I always thought she was supposed to have a heart of steel, ice warrior, and all that."

"Even the coldest of hearts have to melt at Christmas, right?" Simmons says optimistically.

"Hey - where's the.. um.. the next Christmas CD?" Fitz asks suddenly from behind a string of tinsel.

"No idea, man," Mack defends, and everybody else nods in agreement except for Hunter.

"I think I saw May taking it. Probably confiscating it or something. Too cheerful for her likes."

And that's when Christmas carols begin to play through the plane's intercom.

* * *

><p><strong>NOTES<strong>: Also, it's occurred to me as I'm reading over it that the Dooley family rather sounds like Harry Potter's family. Random and totally unimportant, but there you go, I suppose.


End file.
